


Turbulence

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual Steve Rogers, F/F, F/M, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25825150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Alternate universe, Steve Rogers is an ex- forces pilot looking for a low profile job, where lives would not be at stake. He finally ends up piloting the Avenger 1939 of STARK Airlines, owned by none other than the dashing billionaire cum genius, Tony Stark.Things start to change in Steve Rogers' life as the business tycoon starts to take an interest in him.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Kudos: 14





	1. The New Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> I feel the need to inform everyone that my knowledge about pilots and flights end in 'Topgun' and 'Twenty-one pilots.'The information on this fic is from the small amount of research I had done.
> 
> So, if there's anyone who knows the real stuff, don't kill me for my intellectual shortcomings.

"Mr. Rogers?" A brunette with her hair pulled into a tight bun asked stepping into the hallway.

Steve nodded, pushing himself up and followed her, his fingers around the portfolio inside his hand.

Steve had decided a few months back, he was tired of piloting the heavy duty army planes. He wanted to do something that didn't fry his nerves and gave him an easier schedule.

He had poked around a bit and found out that STARK Airlines was one of the best in the country and would be able to give his last job some kind of competition. 

He stepped inside and smiled politely at the woman behind the desk. She exchanged his smile with a hurried one of her own and asked for him to sit.

"Im Pepper Potts, CEO of STARK Airlines. Steve Rogers, right?" She asked taking the portfolio from his hand.

He nodded and sat down in the chair twiddling his thumbs nervously. She glanced up at him and said "You need to know, we only hire the best pilots, Mr.Rogers. So, no hard feelings."

He shook his head and told her "Of course not,"

She gave him an appraising smile but he could sense the quick change in her demeanour. He could see her features turn more serious, her face a bit more stoic.

He shuffled in his seat a bit and wiped his palm on his thigh, trying to brace himself for her questions.

"Your flight experience?" She asked him in an official voice.

He shrugged "Eighteen hundred hours for the force." 

She nodded and asked confused "You were a captain? Aren't you a bit young to be a captain?"

"It's an honorary title," He said and awkwardly pulled his rolled sleeve to cover the scar on his arm properly.

She nodded again pretending not to have seen his quick movement and continued "What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in your career as a pilot?"

He licked his lips nervously and told her in a voice he hoped was steady "Last year, I rescued about a hundred hostages from a concentration camp in Germany."

He felt a buzz of warmth spread inside him on seeing an undeniably impressed look on Pepper's face.

"Why do you want to become a commercial pilot?" She asked, leaning to the front with a visibly mollified look on her face.

"I want a job, where there is less than innocent lives at stake," he told her truthfully.

He added on quickly before she could start talking again "But I do understand this is still a challenging job."

She shook her head with a smile and handed his portfolio in her hand back "Captain, lastly, what do you think defines a good pilot?"

He cleared his throat "A responsible person with knowlege and ability to take command,"

Pepper broke into a true smile, for the first time since their meeting and told him "I'll send you information on your flight schedule via e-mail."

He nodded shaking her hand with a grateful smile on his lips and went to the door. He placed his hand on the door knob but turned back on hearing her use his name.

"We are all thankful for what you have done, Captain Rogers." She said her eyes twinkling at him.

He took a curt nod and replies with the ghost of a smile of on his lips "That's always nice to hear, Ms.Potts."

"Uff," the short brunet groaned on hitting what he felt was a boulder. He shifted the cup of coffee to his other hand safely and looked up to see a tall, well built blonde standing in front of him.

"Sorry," the man apologized and made way for him with an embarrassed look on his blue eyes.

Tony said nothing but stared at the man. He pondered over what the guy could have been doing at his company's headquarters.

His CEO, best friend and resident of the office, Pepper Potts wasn't looking for flight attendants, not in his knowledge. If Tony had to be completely honest most of the cabin crew did not have an impeccable shoulder to waist ratio like the blonde either.

He let out a sigh as the man exited the building but glanced up quickly on hearing Pepper clear her throat loudly. 

She crossed her hands and stared at him suspiciously. He curled his lips and said "Please don't tell me he's your new boyfriend,"

She shook her head with an exasperated sigh and explained "No, I'm not cheating on Rhodes. That's Steve."

Tony arched an eyebrow at her "Steve as in..."

"Steve Rogers. He's going to pilot the Avenger 1939," she told him.

Tony couldn't help but notice the glint of deep satisfaction in her eyes. He shook it off and asked "So, he's basically my employee?"

Pepper scowled seeing him smack his lips in excitement and remarked strutting away with a handful of the paperwork "I don't want to run after a sexual lawsuit between running an airline, Tony."  
\--------------

Steve splashed the cold water from the tap and curled his fists. He had done this a thousand times.

He knew how a plane worked out of the back of his head. If he closed his eyes, he could see a cockpit build in his mind.

The plane's were more complex in the army too. Still, he had to admit the number of lives inside a fighter plane was considerably lower.

He straightened his tie with a clammy hand and stared at his reflection in the mirror. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, covered with a sheen of sweat.

He cursed himself under his breath wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt. Steve quickly whipped his head to his left on hearing the washroom door open, letting someone in.

He winced on seeing Tony Stark. He had to admit, the owner of STARK Airlines was the last person he wanted to see pre-flight.

To his surprise the billionaire walked over to him beaming, a confident smile plaster across his face. Seemingly oblivious to the fear he was trying to hide behind his eyes so desperately.

"Captain Rogers, I hear today's your first flight." Tony said, giving the pilot a small punch on the biceps. He tried to stifle a gulp as his fist met with the solid muscles under Steve's shirt.

"Um. Yeah. Yes." Steve muttered wiping the beads of sweat that kept sprouting on his forehead. 

"Good luck then, you got this." The short brunet flashed him a thumbs up and went to a stall humming.

Steve stared after the man for a moment feeling his stomach knot after meeting his bright brown eyes. Still he had to admit, he was feeling a bit more confident seeing Mr.Stark's confidence in him. 

He let out a deep breath and clapped his hands together. He wringed them together and told himself, nothing mattered, he was going to fly a plane to London safely in ten minutes.  
\--------------

"Natasha Romanoff." The redheaded chief attendant introduced herself with a firm handshake.

Steve couldn't help but notice how attractive the woman was. She had a voluptuous body and fiery red hair swinging behind her shoulders, emerald green eyes with a button like nose and pouty lips. Still, her most attractive feature was the aura of calm confidence she exuded.

He smiled at her and turned to see two other men. The man with the sandy hair introduced himself as Clint Barton, he was one of the regular flight attendants for the Avenger 1939.

The smaller man with wiry hair was Bruce Banner. He was the engineering of the plane and he explained to Steve that none of the planes in STARK Airlines flew without an engineer to check on any sort of casualties which may occur.

Natasha finally led him to the cockpit and introduced him to his co-pilot. "Steve Rogers, this is Carol Danvers,"

The blonde woman, Steve felt that she had about a year or two on him, stood up and grinned at him. "Hey man,"

He nodded at her and muttered back a hello, feeling a bit awkward under her watchful eyes. "Maiden flight?" She asked him.

"Kind of," he admitted and instantly regretted it on seeing a cocky smirk spread across her face.

"Dont worry, I'm a pro. I've even partnered up with Colonels." she told him confidently. 

Natasha let out a light laugh but pointed out "Dont be cocky Danvers, he has twice your flying experience."

"Air force?" She asked him looking doubtful. He shook his head and explained seeing the confusion in her eyes "Army had a small air wing. I got enlisted young..."

She nodded with a shrug and told him "I knew some of your's, Sam Wilson, Riley..." 

They exchanged a few stories about the good old days until Natasha asked for them to suit up for the trip and hurried out of the cockpit.  
Carol nudged him on the ribs and beckoned to the pilot seat. He nodded and went up to the seat. He sat down, nervously wiping his sweaty palms on his thighs and grabbed the mic. 

"Acknowledge." He spoke to the Air Traffic Control confidently.

The line took a moment to get clear and a woman's voice responded "Avenger 1913. Captain Rogers?"

"Affirmative." He replied, feeling his nerves slightly work up again.

"Requesting clearance for take off." He spoke into the mic nervously. 

After a moment the reply came to him "Cleared for take off."

He let out another sigh closing the network and spoke into the intercom linked for the flight's crew.

"This is the captain speaking. Flight Attendants and cabin crew please prepare for take off." 

He glanced to his co-pilot for a last look of assurance as he took the reigns of the plane.  
She beamed at him as Natasha walked to the door of the cockpit and recited the rest of the information for passengers and rest of the crew. 

Steve felt his nerves finally disappear as the plane sore into the sky. He took a quick glance out of the window and felt exhilaration fill him inside out as the plane cut into the air like an eagle taking flight.

"Feels great to fly again. Huh, kid?" Carol asked him with one of her trademark smirks.

He tried to act affronted but let himself smile and said "Sure does."

The rest of the flight went undisturbed, to his pleasure they didn't even have to suffer from any major turbulence.

Natasha finally came in and asked them if it was time for descent when Steve realised that they had almost flown a day, they had started the journey at dusk.

"Course," he said already getting ready for their descent. 

"Acknowledge, Captain Rogers, Avenger 1939. Requesting for descent."

After a few moments a vaguely British voice came off the mic "Affirmative. Cleared to land."

He put the mic back down and contacted Natasha with the intercom.

"Romanoff, we're starting our descent. Copied?"

"Copied." Her cool voice answered him.  
\------------

Steve joined the crew after the flight as they greet the passengers out of the airplane.

He felt a jolt inside his stomach on seeing Tony Stark again. He walked up to him with a smile and offered "Best flight I've ever been in,"

Steve felt himself get red in the face but muttered shyly "Thank you, sir."

He shot Carol a look as she hid her snort into a very unconvincing fit of cough.

"Maybe we could celebrate it over a British lunch?" He asked him loftily.

Steve couldn't help but wonder if Mr.Stark congratulated all the pilots on their maiden flights with victory lunches.Still, he didn't exactly feel the need to turn down his offer. He was his boss and do some reason he wasn't exactly feeling cross at the invitation.

"Of course, sir." He agreed.

The brunet offered him another quick smile and walked out off the plane. Steve glanced down, pretending to be very busy taking off his tie as the other's exchanged looks. He stuffed the tie into his pocket and glanced up to see all of his co-workers smirking at him, a rogue look lurking in their eyes.

"What?" He asked them in a exasperated tone.

Natasha was the one who finally decided to speak up "Nothing just, Mr.Stark isn't usually... Very... congratulating?"

Steve rolled his eyes but said nothing as warmth rushed into his cheek.


	2. Party

Tony plunked down on the cafeteria seat feeling weirdly snappish. He munched on a breadstick feeling the redhead  
gazing at him.

"You look a bit put off, Mr. Stark," she pushed him, her lips pressed into a smile.

He rolled his eyes. Tony had meant to have lunch with Steve alone but the blonde had expanded the invitation. Now, he was going to have lunch with the whole crew. He let out a huff of disappointment.

Natasha started again "Maybe someone wants alone time with the captain..."

He opened his mouth to let out a sarcastic remark but fell silent as Steve came back and settled himself across Tony. Steve glanced up and smiled at him politely. Tony tried hard not to falter under his ocean blue eyes. He licked his lips nervously and finally settled his eyes on Steve's hand.

He shrugged on seeing it holding a cup of coffee instead of food. To be completely honest, he didn't know anyone except himself who consumed coffee for lunch. Natasha seemed to recognize it too, for she was making cupids and hearts besides Steve. 

He felt bile rise up his throat as Steve glanced to her. He wiped the sweat off his face on seeing her busy herself over steak just in time.

Tony cleared his throat, trying to steer the topic away "You aren't gonna eat?"

He shook his head with a soft smile on his lips "No, my body's not designed for food pre-flight."

Tony nodded again and blurted "You're coming to the party?"

The blonde shrugged confused "Party?"

"The company's hosting party. No one told you?" He asked peering at the others.

He could swear the he heard Natasha cracking her knuckles under the table. He didn't exactly feel like crossing her so he gave her an apologetic grin.

"Everybody's invited." He pointed out again.

"Oh, I was under the impression it was blonde and handsome only," Clint chimed in making Steve flush a sharp shade of red.

Tony sighed, maybe he should have been like all the other business heads and treated his employees like slaves.

At least they wouldn't poison the hand that fed them, then. He thought to himself spitefully.

"Don't worry, Bartons a bit retarded." Tony hissed, kicking him hard on the ankle.

He let out a cry of pain but Steve just stared at Tony. He could see that the blonde didn't like him abusing his employees. 

"I was joking," He rubbed a hand along his face feverishly, wondering how he had messed it up so bad.

"Come on,Cap. It'll be fun," Natasha pressed on, thumping Steve on the back.

He nodded and Tony gave the redhead a grateful look. She mouthed back at him something that felt suspiciously like Free drinks.  
\--------------

Tony felt his stomach take a double take on seeing Steve walk into the party. He was wearing a simple white neck with a leather jacket on top but Tony could feel half of his female guest ogling at him.

He waited for some time as Steve talked with the crew and opened a beer, before he pounced in.

"I see you met Hill. She's the one who lets you spread your wings." Tony chuckled, pointing the blonde to the bored brunette sitting on the stool.

"I'm the head of the ATC," she told him and rolled her eyes at Tony. 

Steve chuckled leaning back on the counter. Tony awkwardly shuffled in his feet and stole a few glances at him.

"Sharon asked for your number by the way," Bruce pointed out walking closer to them and regretted it instantly, feeling Natasha's long finger jab into his ribs.

He raised an eyebrow at her as his eyes watered in pain. She shook her head and beckoned to Tony. He glanced at the billionaire to see him stare at Steve with a hurt look on his face.

"And Darcy," Tony let out with a sad sigh.

Steve glanced at him confused but muttered "I'm sorry but I'm not interested,"

Tony's eyes lit up at his answer and he surveyed the blonde's cloudy face carefully. 

"Why would you deprive the world of a pleasure such as yourself?" Hill asked him playfully. 

The other's let out small peals of laughter but Tony notices once again that the usually polite Steve doesn't. 

"I just got out of a serious relationship." As the words come out of the blonde's mouth, the whole atmosphere changes.

They nurse their drinks awkwardly in the silence. It's Natasha who broke the silence once again "What happened?"

Steve took a small sip of his beer and gritted his teeth looking painfully close to tears "My girlfriend died a month ago."

With that Tony proved himself wrong. He had placed a bet with himself that the situation couldn't get more awkward but spoiler alert, it could. 

He let ou a choked breath ans stroked his throat as he downed the glass of scotch. Hehad a stupid crush on a guy who had a dead girlfriend. He chuckled to himself, how damn convenient.

"I'm getting my ass outta her. I'm sorry that your girlfriend died, by the way" he clapped Steve hard on the shoulder and rushed away from his line of vision.

Steve pursed his lips affronted at the man's words. In the past few days he had started to believe Mr.Stark was a great person and friend. He still couldn't bear him talk so sloppily about Peggy Carter.

Steve shuddered feeling his chest tighten painfully but glanced up and smiled at Natasha who was drawing invisible circles on his palm.

He had to admit, it was easy being around the woman. It was almost like being around his brother, Bucky. He had felt awkward at first in his new shared apartment, especially since everybody else seemed to know each other. Yet, Natasha was insistent on including him on every activity, even if he didn't want to.

About an hour later, Steve leaned towards a completely drunk Natasha and team muttering "Cheater..."

They had started an arm wrestling/ shot competition and after seeing that no one could beat him. They teamed up in him and now Steve felt warmth buzzing inside him on swallowing his fifth shot of the night.

"Let's go!" Clint sqealed out pouncing on him but Maria got in between them, thrusting her palms against their chests "Time to go home, Avengers!"

The team let out cries of indignation, having thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Still, everyone saw Maria's point they were completely alone, except for the hosts. All of them grumbled walking out of the hall but Steve stayed.

He wiped his clammy hands on his thighs and went over to the people left in the huge hall. Pepper was trying to get the man on the floor up. She cried out the billionaire's name yanking him by the arm.

"Can I help, mam?" Steve offered her nobly.

The tall woman let Mr.Stark's arm fall to the floor with a thud and she told him making wild gestures with her hand. She cried out "Oh! I possibly couldn't, cap!"

He shook his head walking over to the brunette on the floor and pulled him up by the armpits. He pulled his head away as Tony threw his arms around like a wild animal.

"Who is it! Get off me! Fuck off!" He cried out angrily.

"It's Steve, Mr Stark!" Steve said quickly.

The man froze midway and asked "Steve?"

He nodded "Steve Rogers."

Tony let out a satisfied hum, Steve took it as a green signal and placed one of his arms around his neck and pulled the smaller brunette towards himself.


End file.
